Methods/eBooks selling, is it scam?

To me, as a realist, it is really hard to believe that one would sell a profitable, working method to someone. So whats left to me is thinking - SCAM! Or not?
I did bought couple of them and made a couple of bucks so I could said that most them are pretty good written and communicated that even newbs could understand. So I don't want to say the are all bad or not working, but maybe, just maybe, they are all dried/squized out? And the authors knowing that it not gonna last long and as long as it can earn couple bucks for the newbs it could be presented as a "best method that made a XXXXX$" and sold like mfker. You know it's easy, because if someone is mad that the method is not working the author could just said "You didn't put enough effort to it..." or "You make to little/to poor research..." and so on. And you know what? No one can be angry because the authors just can add this "The earnings or success of this method depends only on you...".
This the real black hat

These so called EBooks are good for those that are newbies in IM and need some catalyst to get started on thinking about various ways of making money.

But on a serious note, I too agree that no one in his right mind would share a money making method with others publicly in this fashion as it is against his own best interests.

Each person has different abilities, skills, and conditions, so applying concepts from a particular book to work will also vary greatly. I think the most important thing is to understand what you have, what you want, and what you need to do, rather than following something mechanically.

I used to love reading method ebooks, even if you might know most of it there is almost all the time you can find small stuff that you did not know or get a reminder of something you read before but forgot. I´m a cheap "pirate" hunter though so I seldome pay for the ones I read.

for learning they are good, but you need expericie to be the best

Most of it is just wordplay. If you have even a slight interest, most of the information can be found easily by doing a quick search.

Depends, IMdude wrote a little gudie about selling his first domain on godaddy auctions, although he declines due to piracy to build a details little step by step guide, I think a book would be within even my budget for $10-20 that covers in details, buying domains from a couple of providers, and then selling them step by step on godaddy.


Some people have the wrong expectations about things, they go into something thinking, cluess, and then say afterwards, "well that was easy, why did I pay for that?" lol you should be thankful to save some hassle and enjoy products that detail methods more.

As you know I also wrote an ebook. And I totally agree with you. For some methods, you can really say they are going to stop working. These are usually methods that take advantage of something and can be easily fixed. You have to use your common sense to make a buying decision. For example, there were ebooks that explained how to get free google ads accounts with coupons etc., of course sooner or later the ebook is not working anymore, because Google will simply fix it.

About the last part about the “it depends on you”, it is a reality that people have to put in the work. You can not read a method, try it and then expect wonders. You can also not study business administration in University and then expect to get the best job.

A few years ago I always wondered why many of these ebooks and courses have a “mindset” chapter. Then I realized how easily most of the people give up. They try something for the first time, do not even do it correctly, then they think its not working and give up, saying “the method doesnt work”

You can not hold people who write ebooks hold responsible if it doesnt work for u. If it works for them and they share the exact method they use, then either do it wrong or didnt try hard enough.

Then, of course there is the pricing problem. People say $150 is too much for an ebook. But it is nothing compared what you can eventually earn.

I'd certainly sell a profitable method guide, for methods I'm no longer using. That's the trick. It's not a scam but I'm not going to sit here and tell everyone how I currently make money. I'll gladly explain how I used to make less money doing something else as I don't have anything riding on that anymore, and likely do not care to go back.

Unpopular Opinion: Most ebook methods actually work!

Sure, there are a few obvious scams where the author knowingly pushes something useless. But in most cases, it’s not the method that’s the problem—it’s how people approach it.

Think about it this way: if you gave a practical, problem-solving person—someone like a skilled mechanic or a sharp entrepreneur—an ebook method, would they just shrug and say, "This doesn’t work"? No, they’d figure out how to make it work, maybe even improve on it.

The issue is, too many people skim these ebooks like they’re short stories, without fully understanding or taking action. Then they speculate about whether it will work or not. If it seems like too much effort or time, they quickly declare, “It doesn’t work!”

It’s about using your brain, not mindlessly following along like a zombie.

Well, look... I understand that it hurts you to read that, because I see that there are people who do it themselves, but it's really not as they say.
And don't take others for fools with sayings like "it's not the method that's the problem—it's how people approach it.". If this is the case, then you have to address all this in the description before the people buys the shit so that everyone can see and understand that this is not a method that will earn millions, but as an educational material to understand how one or another niche works.

@SirSmash very frankly and rightly said. I don't agree with the part that it's not a scam, because when you sell a product/service, you say that it brought you tons of money, you also have to say that it was a while ago and that it's barely working now. Otherwise, you are lying or not fully disclosing, and this is already a scam.

SirSmash said:

I'd certainly sell a profitable method guide, for methods I'm no longer using. That's the trick. It's not a scam but I'm not going to sit here and tell everyone how I currently make money. I'll gladly explain how I used to make less money doing something else as I don't have anything riding on that anymore, and likely do not care to go back.

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The fact is that no one will sell a method that works at full capacity and will not create competition for themselves. Which is very normal

And just don't assume that I want to attack something specifically here, I bought and will buy those methods and books, because as I said, I myself consider it as learning material, just like any other book or course. Just wondering what other thoughts are? Isn't it too out of control and anyone can do it without any responsibility?

Yapaz said:

The fact is that no one will sell a method that works at full capacity and will not create competition for themselves. Which is very normal

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This really depends. If you work on something very specific, very niche, you won't give it away of course, no one would do that. I made 6 figures per year with CPA and I never gave my method away.

But for some methods and niches the market is so extremely big that you can give away your money making method. Imagine making a course about selling cars. There are so many cars, so many dealerships, so many people in so many different cities and countries, you won't create your own competition. The same goes for apps for example. You can make it for iOS, Android, in health, fitness, education, etc, etc. and then target a specific group of people, etc. the market is so big, there are so many niches within the niche, that I would never create my own competition even if I would teach 500 people.

Thats why i prefer to create video courses than ebook. I tried as much as possible to refraing from methods but rather a working fail proof system that actually provide value. You may call it whatever you want but sometimes it takes 3months to 1 year to create somthing substantial that actually works all season round while for some they created it in 3 days and call it a method.

nakamura said:

This really depends. If you work on something very specific, very niche, you won't give it away of course, no one would do that. I made 6 figures per year with CPA and I never gave my method away.

But for some methods and niches the market is so extremely big that you can give away your money making method. Imagine making a course about selling cars. There are so many cars, so many dealerships, so many people in so many different cities and countries, you won't create your own competition. The same goes for apps for example. You can make it for iOS, Android, in health, fitness, education, etc, etc. and then target a specific group of people, etc. the market is so big, there are so many niches within the niche, that I would never create my own competition even if I would teach 500 people.

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Ok, thats interesting. Why you giving away the apps method and not the CPA? Maybe the CPA method is still not dried up?

Yapaz said:

To me, as a realist, it is really hard to believe that one would sell a profitable, working method to someone. So whats left to me is thinking - SCAM! Or not?
I did bought couple of them and made a couple of bucks so I could said that most them are pretty good written and communicated that even newbs could understand. So I don't want to say the are all bad or not working, but maybe, just maybe, they are all dried/squized out? And the authors knowing that it not gonna last long and as long as it can earn couple bucks for the newbs it could be presented as a "best method that made a XXXXX$" and sold like mfker. You know it's easy, because if someone is mad that the method is not working the author could just said "You didn't put enough effort to it..." or "You make to little/to poor research..." and so on. And you know what? No one can be angry because the authors just can add this "The earnings or success of this method depends only on you...".
This the real black hat

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If I ever find a method of making money, I'm keeping it to myself. Noone has to know and if they do they'll milk it leaving it dry. So I kinda agree that gurus sell outdated methods to make money through ebooks.

I like to read those kinda methods to give them my own twist eventually